A/N: well this is the final chapter…sorry it is short, but it doesn't need to be long. I hope you all enjoyed it and I will be back with a Lucius/Hermione story as soon as I come up with one. In the mean time you can read my Severus/Hermione one I'm working on. Thanks to everyone who reviewed….and on with the final chapter.

One more thing: Emma, I am reposting this due to your review and questions. Our of curiosity why do you ask questions in a final review and leave no way to respond? Anyway...the reason for the seven year wait is in these last two chapters...In case you do not want to re-read it: Lucius told Hermione they would not be able to be together until the last Death Eater was found--five years after the war this happened (the war lasted 7). And as for the no-contact in those years...no nothing truly romantic in the sense that it was worth putting in. This is the ending I had planned throughout writing it. I never planned going into details of the war--this is about Lucius and Hermione not Harry and Voldemort. Sorry you were disappointed, but next time please leave a way for me to answer your questions. Does no good to ask otherwise.

Chapter 28

Legend

This time, This place
Misused, Mistakes
Too long, Too late
Who was I to make you wait
Just one chance
Just one breath
Just in case there's just one left
'Cause you know,
you know, you know

That I love you
I have loved you all along
And I miss you
Been far away for far too long
I keep dreaming you'll be with me
and you'll never go
Stop breathing if
I don't see you anymore

On my knees, I'll ask
Last chance for one last dance
'Cause with you, I'd withstand
All of hell to hold your hand
I'd give it all
I'd give for us
Give anything but I won't give up

--Nickelback

Hermione would never forget the day Voldemort fell…to his death. The war was a long and hard one, but the light prevailed in the end. The Golden Trio was officially named so by many newspapers and magazines across the wizarding world. It always made Hermione laugh. The newspapers loved quoting what Hermione was believed to have said at the last and final battle. They reported it every year on the anniversary of Voldemort's fall. The reports of it were all the same. Harry stood in the middle, flanked by his two best friends. Joining wands, the Darkest Lord the wizarding world had ever seen fell to his death at his feet only to take one last look at the one member of the Golden Trio that represented everything he preached against everything he hated. Hermione reportedly smirked at him in a way reminiscent of a Malfoy and stated, "a new age begins."

Hermione chuckled slightly as she read it in yet another anniversary report…five years later. She never could fathom how all these reporters placed those words in her mouth…they were not there in the thick of it. She smiled. Of course, it was true…she did say that in a cruel attempt to make sure Voldemort's last memory before his final death was of "the Mudblood" standing over him announcing his time was over. Cruel yes, but nonetheless deserved.

Sitting her coffee cup down, she opened the Daily Prophet to a section that had been dedicated to the war. The enter page was taken up with one article instead of several small ones. The Headline made her heart stop.

Final Death Eater in Azkaban

It had been five years since the war ended. The words spoken seven years ago echoed in her mind as if it were only yesterday.

"…The day this war ends…the day the last Death Eater is caught and sentenced away from us so that some semblance of a normal life may be achieved, I will get down on my knees and ask you to marry me…"

It was a day she had been waiting on, whishing for. Everyday she searched for word that the last Death Eater was found and locked away. After a couple years her hope for such an occurrence dwindled so that she never expected it to happen. She looked at the article….her heart pounding wildly. Standing up she sat her coffee cup in the sink and grabbed her cloak.

She rushed through the corridors of Hogwarts. Her destination? The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Students walking to class and hanging around the corridors looked at her and whispers began. They all knew who she was and where she was heading. She reached the door, watching a student enter. A quick glimpse told her he was not in the classroom yet. Stepping in quietly she took a seat in the very back of the classroom and waited.

Lucius swept into the classroom with the same aristocratic stance he always held, cane in hand. She noticed, as he passed by where she sat, his eyes shift and his hand twitch. He knew she was there. He stood in front of the classroom of second year Gryffindors and Slytherins and began his lecture…trying to ignore her presence. The students around her noticed her presence and began whispering to their neighbors and sending covert glances at her.

They knew who she was…the story of Lucius Malfoy and Hermione Granger had become legend. The girls giggled…their mothers would tell the story before bed…their very own "Cinderella" story of sorts. It was a story whose begins were debated, but only known truly by the very few. It was a story that held no true ending…no closure. Finally, Lucius asked the class a question and no one raised their hand. Silence rung in the classroom as Lucius looked over it. Then he noticed it…the hand in the very back of the classroom. His eyes fell on hers. Her hand in the air, body leaning slightly forward, fire dancing in her eyes. He remembered the last time he called on her when she was a student to answer a question.

"Miss Granger, no one else seems to be raising their hands and Professor Lupin has informed me of your brilliance. Could you please explain the theory Miss Granger?"

Her eyes turned slowly to look him in the face. He felt a slight chill at how dead they looked in that moment. The whole class watched, knowing the history of hate between Hermione and father and son Malfoy.

The class and every child in the wizarding world knew of that history and the history that followed. His eyes locked on hers he nodded.

"Could you please explain the theory Miss Granger?"

Everyone gasped turning to look at the famous Hermione Granger…the girl from the legends. She smiled shaking her head.

"You're supposed to say 'will you marry me, Miss Granger."

A smile graced his lips at the reminder and the way in which she went about it. His heart pounded as the class turned to him. Never had this class been so quiet. Lucius began walking down the aisle straight for where she sat and held out his hand. She took it and with his guidance, she stood up. The class watched as the Slytherin Head of House faced the previous Gryffindor. No hate existed between them. The class watched in silence as Lucius looked at Hermione, not down at her, but just looked at her. Slowly, Lucius dropped down on one knee, still holding her hand.

"Will you marry me, Miss Granger?"

"Yes," she whispered…silent tears spilling from her eyes.

The class began cheering and clapping. Their story was legend and that second year class of Gryffindors and Slytherins were witness to what the legend always needed but lacked…what girls fantasized about and boys theorized about.

Closure.

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